Pokémon: The Next Generation
by Catalina Storm
Summary: Join Jordan and Matt Ketchum as they travel the world in search of adventure!


PokÃ©mon: The Next Generation  
  
Disclaimers: I don't own PokÃ©mon. So there.  
  
Author's Notes and Whatnot: This is a fun story I like working on every now and then. It's like Starflight in that I've got a lot planned out of it, but it also has a lot of gaps that I can BS my way through. However, this story starts out incredibly lighthearted, but as time progresses and the characters mature, there will be elements introduced that aren't all peachy- keen. You'll have to keep reading if you want to see how everything falls...  
  
  
  
  
  
Something was tickling her nose.  
  
Jordan Ketchum scrunched up her nose and opened one eye cautiously. The sun still wasn't up yet, though the sky was beginning to gradually lighten in the east. The trees and their leaves cut imposing figures over her head, but she wasn't scared of their twisted shapes. She had camped out enough that it didn't even bother her.  
  
A flat, yellow tail built like a conducting rod was lying on top of her nose, lightly tickling it. Jordan opened her other eye and shifted slightly, looking down at DB. The Pikachu was fast asleep on her chest, her butt pointed directly at Jordan and her tail on her face.  
  
Just like DB.  
  
She stifled a yawn, gently moving the Pikachu to the side of her sleeping bag and then stretching her arms out over her head. That accomplished, she pillowed her head on her arms and stared at the sky.  
  
As noted previously, it was beginning to lighten with the birth of the new day. Now that the light was becoming evident enough to see by, she turned her head and looked to her left.  
  
Sleeping on his side with his back to her was Matt. His coal-black hair was already stuck up at all angles like it hadn't seen a comb in days (it hadn't). She imagined that Flash was cradled in his arms and sleeping contentedly, and she wasn't far from the truth.  
  
She couldn't see Terry Sketcher, but she could hear him just fine. The green-haired boy was snoring like nothing else. Well, the only one who could outmatch him was Jordan herself, or at least according to Matt. But she couldn't exactly hear herself when she was asleep now, could she?  
  
Jordan smiled as she stroked DB's ears quietly. The Pikachu unconsciously flicked her ear, but didn't wake. What an odd group she was with. And to be honest, she wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.  
  
And to think, she and her Pikachu had started off practically on the wrong foot...  
  
PokÃ©mon: The Next Generation  
  
Episode 1  
  
And One Day I'll Come Back...  
  
"OWWW! You dumb RAT!"  
  
"Pipika! CHU!"  
  
Matt Ketchum crossed his arms and sighed. Pallet Town was just out of sight over the ridge and here Jordan was, already smoking and lying prone on the ground. DB, the Pikachu, had her yellow paws crossed and her back towards Jordan.  
  
They had been on their training journey for approximately twenty minutes when they ran into their first hurdle. Jordan and DB just didn't get along.  
  
"I don't get it," Terry complained, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand while adjusting his backpack with the other. "I mean, they're cut from exactly the same mold!"  
  
"And therein lies the problem," Matt said, shaking his head. "Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn."  
  
DB's ears went back and she glanced slowly over her shoulder at Matt, sparks emitting from her cheek pouches. Matt stared back, unperturbed. Not only had he grown up in a house with a Pikachu, but one was also seated on his shoulder. You didn't grow up with a Pikachu and not expect to be shocked once in a while.  
  
Flash cocked her ears and scolded DB angrily for even threatening such a thing. DB rolled her eyes, made an unmistakable human gesture involving the middle digit of her paw, and put her nose in the air.  
  
Jordan groaned and twitched. "Ow."  
  
"What is it with you, huh?" Matt asked, prodding his younger sister with one foot. "I mean, you just ask for it, you know."  
  
Jordan rubbed the ash off her face and glared at her brother. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said, miffed. She glanced up to see DB sitting up the path. "That ... that ... RAT ... won't listen to me!"  
  
Matt rolled his eyes. "Gee, sis. Wonder why? Maybe because DB's not a rat, she's a PokÃ©mon."  
  
"Same difference," Jordan spat, crossing her arms and looking in the opposite direction, a petulant expression on her face.  
  
Matt rapped her head with his fist. "Moron. If Dad ever caught you calling Pikachu a rat, you'd be grounded for a MONTH!"  
  
"Yeah, but this is different. Why won't DB listen to me?" Jordan complained. She gestured at her sibling with an arm. "LOOK at you two, it looks like you've been together forever, not just three quarters of an hour!"  
  
Matt glanced at Flash, who was perched comfortably on his shoulder. "Maybe because I don't treat Flash like a common animal," he said mildly.  
  
"Or maybe you just lucked out and got the tame one," Jordan returned irritably. "I bet if YOU got DB, then you'd be the same story."  
  
"I bet not," Matt said calmly. He crouched down. "Hey, DB. Come here," he gestured at the Pikachu, who glanced over him uninterestedly. "I'm not gonna hurt you," he assured the Pikachu.  
  
DB glared at him, then gave Matt a Thundershock that knocked him on his butt.  
  
Jordan and Terry burst out laughing. Then DB Thundershocked them both and turned her back again.  
  
The three kids sat on the path, all smoking and the tiniest bit charred.  
  
"Well," Terry exhaled wisps of smoke rising from his hair. "THAT sure didn't work."  
  
"Good one, Matt," Jordan said, wiping the newest layer of ash off her face. "Just goes to show that you're not always right."  
  
Matt stared at DB in disbelief. "Oh-kay..." he said slowly. "Maybe you DID just get an uncontrollable Pikachu. I guess it's happened before..."  
  
"You're darn tootin' it's happened before!"  
  
The three kids looked at each other, then looked around for the new voice. "Professor Rikk?" Jordan called, looking into the trees of Viridian Forest but not spotting the good professor who had given them their PokÃ©mon.  
  
"Down here!"  
  
Jordan looked down, to where she'd tucked her new PokÃ©dex into the waistband of her pants. She pulled it out to reveal a small picture of Professor Rikk. "Hey, there!" Professor Rikk tooted cheerily. "Having fun yet?"  
  
"Hardly," Jordan replied dryly, realizing that her cap was smoking and took it off to make sure it didn't catch on fire.  
  
"Did I hear something about uncontrollable starter PokÃ©mon?" Professor Rikk asked. The picture moved back a bit, and Jordan could see more of the Professor, albeit a bit fuzzier. The good Professor was clad in a black tee shirt and jeans, the tee shirt emblazed with "Mad scientist and proud of it!" Over top of that she wore the standard white lab coat of the PokÃ©mon professor. Her black hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail and glasses were perched on her nose.  
  
"Yeah," Jordan admitted. "DB and I are having some ... issues."  
  
"Well, don't worry about it. You'll work through it or get shocked trying. Probably both." The professor snickered at her joke.  
  
"What were you saying about it happened before?" Matt asked. Jordan looked up in surprise, to see her old brother hovering over her shoulder.  
  
"Ah, yes. Well, old Professor Oak ... he was before your time, kids ... told me all about it. It seemed your father and Pikachu had some issues to start out with as well."  
  
"Really?" Both Ketchums sounded interested.  
  
"Yeah. It seems that when he left Pallet Town on his training journey, he was dragging Pikachu on a leash and was equipped with thick gloves. Didn't help much, I heard." Professor Rikk snickered again.  
  
"What happened then?" Jordan wanted to know. She'd never heard about this, all her father's stories about his many adventures never had any in which he and Pikachu weren't a team!  
  
"Well ... I'm not too sure." Jordan and Matt facefaulted, groaning at Professor Rikk's sheepish expression and sweatdrop. "The next anyone heard from them, they were the best of pals."  
  
"Great," Jordan moaned, picking herself up. "Thanks for the advice, Professor Rikk," she added sarcastically.  
  
"No problem," Professor Rikk responded genuinely. She smiled widely and winked. "Good luck, you two. And remember, you have to earn your PokÃ©mon's TRUST." With that the screen winked out.  
  
Jordan and Matt looked at each other. "Was that actual advice out of Professor Rikk's mouth?" Jordan asked incredulously.  
  
"Sure sounded like it," Matt said, scratching the back of his neck.  
  
"Will wonders never cease," Terry said dryly. "Now, do you two think you can patch up your differences long enough for us to make some tracks? Daylight only lasts so long and I for one would like to make camp some distance away from Pallet." He gestured back over the ridge, where their families were probably still.  
  
"Sounds like a plan," Matt confirmed, rising out of his crouch. "Come on you guys, we've got an adventure ahead of us!"  
  
"Yippee," Jordan said dryly.  
  
***  
  
"JORDAN!"  
  
Jordan irritably stomped through the bushes. "NOW what?" she complained over her shoulder. Honestly! Were *all* older brothers this ... annoying?  
  
"Could you NOT go stomping off like a Rhydon in a snit?" Matt yelled from somewhere behind her. Jordan tossed her head, her black ponytail smacking the back of her neck with the gesture. She decided to ignore him.  
  
'Honestly,' she thought to herself. 'Why did he have to come along on *my* training journey, anyway?'  
  
Jordan stopped, staring at the trees and sighing. She knew why her older brother was along on the training journey with her ... in fact; it was rather indirectly her fault that he missed the deadline last year. If they hadn't been so intent on tussling over who could climb higher in the old ash tree behind their grandmother's house, then Matt wouldn't have climbed on a branch far too weak to hold his weight.  
  
She winced. He had fallen all the way down and managed to land at just the wrong angle, breaking his leg in two places. Everyone had assured her that it wasn't her fault, but Jordan still felt responsible. 'If I hadn't been so intent on showing him up, then he'd already be out there making his own friends, instead of babysitting his little sister and HER friend!'  
  
"Pikapi chu," DB snorted at her as she trotted past.  
  
"Yeah, and what's YOUR problem?" Jordan snarled.  
  
The Pikachu halted and glanced at Jordan, cheek sacs sparking threateningly.  
  
"Ooh, I'm *so* scared," Jordan returned, rolling her eyes. "Try again. What are you going to do, shock me?"  
  
The blast of yellow electricity was predictable. Even Jordan's reaction of falling face-first was predictable. What *wasn't* predictable was the ruckus it started.  
  
"What on Earth is that noise?" Jordan grumbled, pulling herself into a sitting position. She then looked up to see an entire tree full of Sparrows looking down at her with murder in their eyes. "Oh," Jordan responded in a tiny voice.  
  
"SPEAROW!"  
  
***  
  
"Sheesh, don't tell me we've lost her already!" Terry said, sitting down against a tree and glad for the respite from their continuous hike.  
  
Matt frowned, crossing his arms and peering into the undergrowth. The shadows were lengthening as the sun set into the west, and they had yet to find a suitable place to camp. Not only that, but Jordan had insisted on stomping off, still peeved that DB didn't even bother to listen to her.  
  
"It wouldn't surprise me," Matt said slowly. He glanced over at Terry, who had pulled out a PokÃ©ball and was frowning at it. "Are you still upset about your PokÃ©mon?"  
  
The younger boy sighed, pressing the button that released his PokÃ©mon. Almost instantly, a bird PokÃ©mon appeared in a beam of red light. "Pidgeee!" the Pidgey squealed, flapping its wings rapidly. Then it spotted Terry and made a screeching sound as it dove for his head. Terry was a bit slow on the uptake and the Pidgey got in two or three pecks before he managed to return the PokÃ©mon to its ball.  
  
He tenderly rubbed his head, surprised that there was no blood. "That answer your question?"  
  
Matt winced. "Am I the only one who doesn't have any quarrels with my PokÃ©mon?" he asked redundantly.  
  
"The Oak twins weren't happy either," Terry pointed out. "But then again, they both got Eevees."  
  
"I don't see the problem there. They can be evolved into almost any type these days, and that should suit those two brats just fine." Matt shrugged philosophically.  
  
"If I had an Eevee, I'd evolve it into a Flareon," Terry said, a dreamy look on his face. "I want to be a fire-type trainer!"  
  
"That leave a lot of weakness in your defense," Matt said.  
  
"I don't care! I'm not too into the whole "training and battling thing..." At least, not as much as you two are." Terry leaned back, folding his arms behind his head. "Then again, my dad isn't the head of the Elite Four."  
  
Matt winced again. "Don't remind me," he said darkly. "I hate that!"  
  
"Why?" Terry asked, not moving. "One would think you'd at least be glad for the leg up, so to speak."  
  
"That's exactly it. Everything's always handed to us like we can't take care of ourselves!" Matt unclasped his arms and let them hang at his sides, his hands balling into fists. "Everywhere I go, everything I do, I'm always compared to my *father!* Jordan doesn't really get any of it because she's a girl, but it's ... I just can't deal with that anymore. I just want to make a name for myself. My *own* name."  
  
Terry shook his head. "It sounds like you have some issues. Jordan was right, then?"  
  
Matt stopped and looked at Terry over his shoulder. "What do you mean, 'Jordan was right?'"  
  
Terry grew nervous. "Ah. Heh. Well, she was talking about how you and your father have been having ... confrontations ... about various things ... and that you don't really see eye to eye anymore..."  
  
The oldest child of Ash Ketchum sighed deeply. "In other words, she's been telling you that Dad and I fight a lot." He ran a hand through his mussed- up coal-black hair. "And she's right. We do fight a lot. It got ... worse, the closer it came to me leaving. But now..." He sighed again, then focused on the woods, abruptly changing the subject. "Where *is* she? She can't get *that* lost..."  
  
Just then, the bushes in front of them shook violently, and then Jordan burst through, cradling DB in her arms. She was dirty and torn up and bleeding from a dozen cuts. She didn't slow down or stop, but instead yelled "Hit the deck!" before she vanished into the bushes on the other side of the path.  
  
Without question, Matt dropped to the ground, covering his head with his hands. Terry was a bit slow, but as a flood of Spearows exited the forest in front of him, he got the hint and flopped down. The sky was black with Spearows for several seconds, then abruptly they were all gone.  
  
After a minute, Terry raised his head. "Whoa!" he breathed. "What was *that?!*"  
  
"Spearows," Matt said, already crouched on the ground. "Damn, that was fast," he said.  
  
"What?" Terry asked, also regaining his feet.  
  
"Her getting us into trouble," Matt said, dashing into the bushes where Jordan and the Spearows had disappeared.  
  
"What do you mean, 'us?'" Terry cried, but his friend was already gone. Terry swore to himself, then dashed after Matt.  
  
***  
  
Jordan's flight was abruptly canceled by the appearance of a wall of rock. She swore as she tried to scrabble up the insurmountable rock, then dumped DB gently to the ground. The Pikachu had tried to take on the Spearows, but in her arrogance had fallen prey to repeated Peck attacks. Jordan, regardless of the Peck attacks, had scooped up her PokÃ©mon and made a mad dash for it. Which in retrospect wasn't that wise of a choice, especially since their pursuers could fly.  
  
Jordan stood protectively in front of DB, blocking the Pikachu from the arriving Spearows. Her black tee shirt and jeans were torn in several places, and she was bleeding from multiple wounds sustained from the Peck attacks.  
  
"You want DB?" she challenged as more and more Spearows appeared. "You gotta go through me!" She withdrew one of her empty PokÃ©balls and threw it at the nearest Spearow. The bird PokÃ©mon was caught in the beam of light and sucked into the ball. Lucky for Jordan, it was one of the ones caught in DB's original blast and wasn't at full strength. The ball wobbled for a moment while Jordan and the Spearows stared at it, then the red light at the button faded out.  
  
"Yes!" Jordan exclaimed unconsciously. "I caught my first PokÃ©mon!" This brought the attention of the Spearows back to her, and Jordan swallowed, realizing that might not have been the best thing to say. "It won't do me any good if I don't live through this," she muttered to herself, prepared for an insane amount of pain.  
  
"Pidgey! Sandstorm!"  
  
"PIDGEEEE!"  
  
An abrupt gust of wind kicked up an insane amount of sand, obscuring Jordan from the Spearows and vice versa. Jordan scooped up DB and crouched by the cliff. She heard several thuds and Spearows dove at where she had been standing and met with the solid and unyielding rock wall.  
  
"Flash! THUNDERSHOCK!"  
  
"PIKAAACHUUUU!"  
  
There was an explosion of electricity, but Jordan sensed it wasn't enough to down all the Spearows. "You up to a Thundershock?" she murmured to DB, who opened up her eyes and stared at Jordan.  
  
Jordan was surprised. DB's eyes were a warm brown this close, not the cold black she was used to seeing before she got an awful shock. She then realized that she had never picked up her PokÃ©mon or allowed her on her shoulder or near her. Jordan vowed that if they survived this then she'd let her PokÃ©mon be as near to her as she wanted.  
  
DB nodded violently, an evil glimmer in those brown eyes. "Pika," she agreed, then scampered out of Jordan's arms. Jordan, not rising from her crouch, yelled as loud as she could. "DB ... THUNDERSHOCK!"  
  
"PIKAAACHUUU!" DB's entire body lit with yellow electricity, which joined with the blasts that Flash was already emitting to make one hell of a punch. Jordan coughed into her hand as she heard Terry yell another command to his Pidgey.  
  
"Pidgey, Whirlwind! Drive away all this sand!"  
  
The Pidgey obliged, and soon the air was clear again. Spearows littered the landscape, yellow electricity still crackling over their bodies. Jordan grinned tiredly at DB, who was looking rather proud of herself despite her injuries due to the nasty Peck of the Spearows.  
  
Then the adrenaline wore off of Jordan and she collapsed forwards. "Pikapi!" DB shrieked racing to DB and fretting worriedly over the downed girl.  
  
"Jordan!" Matt yelled, spotting his sister and racing to her side. Terry wasn't that far behind, and he had the foresight to collect her PokÃ©ball, and her Spearow.  
  
"Let's get her out of here," Terry urged, noticing that some of the Spearows on the outskirts of the blast radius were beginning to shift. "Before the Spearows wake up and decide on a world of hurt for us."  
  
Matt nodded. "Help me support her," he said, and they both managed to get Jordan up. Then, with the half-conscious girl supported between them, the two boys rushed off into the foliage, followed closely by their PokÃ©mon.  
  
***  
  
Much to Matt's relief, Jordan's injuries weren't extensive; they were mainly treated with a lot of Band-Aids. After fixing her up and making camp for the night, Jordan let out her Spearow.  
  
Lucky for them all, the bird PokÃ©mon wasn't interested in harassing them just for the heck of it. Without all the other Spearows, it wasn't near as much as a bully.  
  
Plus, DB gave it a little "talking to" to encourage it to be cooperative.  
  
"Are you going to name it?" Terry asked, watching their supper industriously. Jordan and Matt were watching their three PokÃ©mon spar to raise their levels a bit.  
  
"I don't know," Jordan said, rubbing the Band-Aid that covered her left cheek. She recovered relatively quickly from her little adventure, and that was what the boys were most relieved for. She was back to her annoying, reckless self. "I was thinking maybe ... Fearless."  
  
"Fearless the Spearow?" Matt repeated. "Doesn't sound to bad. Of course, if it evolves, it'll be Fearless the Fearow."  
  
"What do you mean, 'if?'" Jordan repeated, sounding a bit miffed. "Of *course* Fearless'll evolve. I'm gonna train him to be the best fighter the League has ever seen!"  
  
"Oh, boy," Matt said, rolling his eyes. "Not *this* again."  
  
Terry chuckled dryly. "Hey, at least your PokÃ©mon listen to you."  
  
Jordan looked a bit surprised. "Hey, that's right. DB! Come here!"  
  
The Pikachu looked up, a bit irked at having her training interrupted. However, she trotted dutifully to Jordan and hopped in her lap, waiting to be petted. Jordan obliged by rubbing that area between her ears and eliciting a content noise from DB.  
  
"I guess you worked through your "issue," Matt said with a small smile. "I wonder if she'll come to me?"  
  
"You can try," Jordan said coyly.  
  
Matt stared suspiciously at her. "DB?" He questioned the Pikachu, who glared icily at him, then flipped him off. He shook his head. "Did she learn that from you?" he questioned.  
  
"No," Jordan said, laughing a bit at DB's reaction. "I don't know where that came from, but it certainly makes DB unique, I think." She continued stroking the soft yellow fur of her Pikachu. "What's Flash's special characteristic, then?"  
  
Matt looked at her, surprised. "You mean you haven't noticed?" he said. He called his Pikachu over, and Flash trotted over obediently, and Jordan stared at her.  
  
"Well, I'll be," she said, shaking her head. "One blue eye and one brown one! That certainly *is* unique!"  
  
"And not quite as obscene as yours, I'm thankful," Matt added, only to get a slight shock from DB. Flash took exception at this and shocked DB back, therefore shocking Jordan.  
  
Both siblings sat there, smoking a bit from the mild shocking. They glanced at each other, then placed the Pikachus on the ground at the same time.  
  
Terry laughed from his position at the fire. Jordan started to laugh as well, and Matt rolled his eyes. "Honestly," he muttered, causing the other two to laugh even more.  
  
***  
  
Jordan smiled fondly as DB snuggled up against her. She rubbed her cheek and winced, the Band-Aid had come off in the middle of the night. She yawned again. The sky was much brighter now, and Matt was stirring.  
  
Flash's ears appeared over his side, then the Pikachu climbed up Matt's side so she stood on the side of his chest, nuzzling under his arm, which was tossed over his eyes to block out the brightening light. "Mmm," Matt moaned, trying to cling to those last vestiges of sleep.  
  
Jordan grinned, sitting up herself. DB woke at her movement and sat up, yawning widely and ending with a little squeak that anyone would find adorable. However, then the Pikachu scratched her butt and burped. Loudly.  
  
She couldn't help it; Jordan burst out laughing, which definitely woke the other two. Matt rolled onto his back and yawned, toppling Flash, and Terry sat up blearily. "Wha-?" he asked, stifling his own yawn.  
  
Jordan continued to laugh, exalting in that and the new day. DB was confused by her master's reaction and crawled into Jordan's lap, butting under her chin with her head. "Pikaa?"  
  
Matt and Terry looked at each other and shrugged. Jordan stretched her arms above her head and let out a loud laugh. "This is really it!" she cried. DB, caught in her enthusasium, grabbed Jordan's hat from the ground and plunked it on her head. The hat was a little too big for the Pikachu, though, and it slid over one eye, despite the fact she held the edges.  
  
"What is?" Matt asked sleepily, rubbing one eye.  
  
"We're finally PokÃ©mon trainers!" Jordan exclaimed. "And we're going to beat them all, right, DB?"  
  
"Pikaa! Pika chu! KakaPI!" The PokÃ©mon accented the last syllable with her one-fingered salute. Jordan laughed again.  
  
They were finally on their way.  
  
To Be Continued!  
  
Next Time: Caught out in the middle of a storm, our heroes make camp in an old cabin. But is it haunted, and if so, by what? Matt and Flash investigate! 


End file.
